CREATOR: Interview Bruno Pica

A good while back I met up with the girls from the clothing label, Bruno Pica.  Both creatives behind the label, Kathrin and Sabrina work together to produce quality, handmade knitted items.  Below they share their processes and inspiration.

"...we realized how energetic and inspiring a collaboration can be. So we would say find yourself a companion and experiment, learn by doing and be curious!"

You can find their clothes on their etsy store or if you are in Berlin you can find them at their store Pica Pica in Prenzlauer Berg.

Bruno Pica Shop: Bruno Pica  
Kathrin Niemann: http://www.picapica.de
Sabrina Basten: http://sabrinabasten.com  

Four adjectives which describe your work:
Colorful, cosy, multifunctional and unique
 
Currently residing: Berlin Hometown: Ahaus (DE)
Profession: Sabrina: visual artist
            Kathrin: fashion designer 
 

How did you start creating?
We grew up together in the same city and finished at the same art school. Kathrin opened her own shop Pica Pica in Berlin, making her own designs. Sabrina worked on her carear as an installation artist, always making little things aside from that (with the knitting machine / label called: Bruno).
We always had the idea to work together one day and since Sabrina moved fully to Berlin we took the opportunity to dive into that.
   
Inspired by?
In the first place its the material which inspires us. Which means in this case the fiber and its colors. We focus mainly on jackets, scarfs and skirts. The knitting machine is a manual one and plays its tricks on us from time to time. There is a lot of counting involved which we sometimes take as a conceptual starting point, see our 'exponential pollöverken'. That we started to work together is an experiment for us and thats exactly how we work on each unique piece.  

Do you make/create anything else? Kathrin:
I get my inspiration from nature and therefore I create unique pieces from high quality bio and fair trade fabrics. Every piece is handmade and dyed with natural materials such as roots, flowers and seeds. I develop my own patterns which are straight, minimalistic and elegant and can often be worn in multiple ways.
Sabrina:
My work is about the explorations of underlying patterns and connections between scientific paradigms and seemingly random aspects of humanity and its relationships. Sometimes the work takes the form of physical investigation into materiality (room filling installations), at other times the questioning is more intellectual or philosophical. I create a stage in which the boundaries between viewer, author and the installation itself starts to blur.  

Any encouraging words?
Even though we both have our own project next to Bruno Pica, we realized how energetic and inspiring a collaboration can be. So we would say find yourself a companion and experiment, learn by doing and be curious!